


Only Another Beginning

by DesertVixen



Category: Jem and the Holograms
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-06
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-05-05 05:03:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5362397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertVixen/pseuds/DesertVixen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jerrica Benton reflects on the aftermath of Eric Raymond getting what he deserves...</p>
<p> (Story is set after the series finale)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Only Another Beginning

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Outworlder](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Outworlder/gifts).



Eric Raymond was finally getting what he deserved, Jerrica Benton reflected as she sat in the courtroom and watched the burly pair of bailiffs escort him from the room.

Her only regret was that she wasn’t the one who had brought him down. It was his greed for money and power that had done him in. Eric had taken advantage of her father’s lack of business sense and embezzled money from Starlight Music before Jerrica had been involved in the company. She had not been able to get him on that one – as he’d said, it was amazing what lawyers could do if you paid them enough – but over time, Jerrica had come to think of it as a very expensive lesson. They had beaten Eric at his game enough times, but he had always come back for more. She’d actually felt sorry for him a time or two, seeing as he had to deal with the Misfits.

Then Jerrica had found out that Eric liberated Jacqui Benton’s master tapes from Starlight Music when he’d been thrown out, and he was holding them for a ransom she couldn’t afford. Eric had given her the choice of paying a million dollars for the master tapes, or signing over controlling interest in Starlight Music. Even to save her mother’s tapes, Jerrica knew she couldn’t give Eric control of the company – it would have been the end of her parents’ legacy, the end of everything that she had fought so hard to protect. It would have left Eric Raymond victorious. 

Jerrica had stupidly hoped to appeal to his better nature, or somehow strike a deal with him – and she had failed. Eric had thrown what they both believed to be the only set of tapes in existence on the fire, after she had begged him not to.

She’d never felt sorry for him again.

Jerrica had been surprised when Eric had bought out Harvey Gabor’s share of Misfits Music. She was sure that despite selling his house and other legal assets, the money involved hadn’t all come from legal sources. Then he had had offered half of the company to Riot, in exchange for the Stingers signing with him, instead of signing with Starlight Music. As Jem, Jerrica had tried to warn Riot that it was a bad move, but Riot had been sure he could handle Eric.

It was no surprise that Eric had started embezzling again, but he had finally committed the cardinal error of being too greedy. Pizazz was rich enough that she didn’t pay any real attention to her financial statements, and Roxy would never admit that she didn’t understand the paperwork Eric put in front of her. If he’d just helped himself to money that rightfully belonged to those two, he might have gotten away with it.

Stormer, however, paid attention to the money she made, even before she became concerned about how the Misfits were being treated at Stingers Sound. She knew Eric wasn’t a model of trustworthy behavior, but he had never stolen from his own performers. She had ended up taking her concerns to Harvey Gabor, who had been very unhappy to find out Eric Raymond was stealing from his little girl. 

Jerrica had been sitting in her office with a front row seat when the cops came and took Eric away in handcuffs. That had been very satisfying, but knowing that Eric was really going to pay this time was even better. Harvey Gabor had no shortage of lawyers, or the money to pay them with.

*** 

Rio poured another glass of champagne and handed it to Jerrica. They were finally alone in the office after an impromptu party following the verdict. The Holograms had left to hit the club scene and party it up. Jerrica hoped they stayed out of trouble. 

Jerrica looked out the window to where Stingers Sound was dark and quiet, and thought about the first night that she and Rio had been alone in this office. Jem and the Holograms had been victorious in the Battle of the Bands, and they had foolishly thought that Eric Raymond would be out of their hair. Instead, he had been removing “personal items” from the Starlight Music offices. The thought of how that confrontation had gone made her smile.

“What’s on your mind?” Rio asked from behind her, sliding his arm around her waist.

“Just thinking about you punching out Eric Raymond,” she answered, and he grinned.

“One of my more satisfying moments,” he agreed, leaning down to kiss her neck. “Almost as satisfying as having you all to myself.”

They hadn’t had much alone time since that night, when Jerrica had vowed to make Starlight Music something her father could be proud of. Rio had been there for her (and Jem) all the way, and she knew she could not have done it without him.

Sometimes, Jerrica wished she had told Rio that night, when they were celebrating their success, that she was Jem. She wondered how different things would have been if he had known that Jem was just a disguise for his plain girlfriend, that Jem was her way to lose her inhibitions and just perform.

Deep down, Jerrica knew she should have told him right from the start, but she had been so busy reacting that she hadn’t taken the time to think.

There had also been the pressure from Synergy not to reveal her existence that Jerrica had accepted without thinking it through. She had started thinking about the issue more now, especially after reading her father’s diary and learning of his initial plans when building Synergy. The system hadn’t been intended for his daughters to play dress-up with, but to bring the energy of music into more places. He had abandoned the idea, but she had no way of knowing if his fear that Synergy could be misused had been influenced by his illness. 

The result of all the factors was that she had found herself increasingly unable to tell Rio her secret. There had been a few times when she had almost managed it, but had either lost her nerve or had not wanted to spoil the moment. 

She didn’t want to spoil this moment either.

*** ***

“I was surprised Jem didn’t come to the trial,” Rio said as they walked down to the parking garage later. 

“She told me she felt like it would be too much of a distraction,” Jerrica said quickly. She had considered it, but felt like using the hologram in a courtroom when it was not necessary might be problematic.

“Too bad she had to miss the show.” 

“It was definitely worth watching,” Jerrica said. “The look on Eric’s face was wonderful when he realized he wasn’t going to weasel out of it.”

“So what’s next? Now that Eric Raymond has finally lost for good, what does that mean for Starlight Music?”

Jerrica smiled. “I have a few ideas.” 

“Are you going to try to sign the Stingers again?”

She shook her head. The memory of Riot demanding Jerrica sign over half of Starlight Music as a signing bonus was still a painful one. She’d learned that Riot wasn’t as bad as he seemed, but she had decided that having him and the Stingers as one of their acts wasn’t worth the trouble they brought with them. “I doubt they would sign with Starlight Music anyway. Owning half of Stingers Sound is a pretty good deal, especially if they can pick up some more shares and guarantee a majority.”

Rio sat in the driver’s seat, and she could see him relax a little. “Probably for the best. He’s kind of a jerk.”

“But I have thought that we should approach him about doing a duet with Jem,” Jerrica continued. “Kimber and I have been keeping our eyes open for a song or a song idea, something splashy and big.” 

She wanted to find a possible song or two before she approached Riot about it. If she was honest, she wanted to give Kimber time to write the song. Her little sister had written some good ones for Jem and the Holograms, but if she wrote a duet for two of the biggest stars in rock, it would give Kimber a chance to really shine. It was a chance Jerrica wanted to give her little sister.

“It’s an idea,” he said after a long moment.

“I might have some other ones you like better,” she said teasingly. She had a few more ideas to make Starlight Music better, to take advantage of the current situation, but she didn’t want to worry about them tonight.

Tonight she wanted to celebrate.

“Let’s go change and then go find the Holograms,” Jerrica said suddenly.

“I like that idea,” Rio said with a grin. “Maybe we’ll run into Jem too.”

She stopped herself from sighing, not wanting to let him see that it bothered her. It was stupid to be jealous of herself, even a prettier version of herself that was more fun to be around. The problem was that she could only be one person at a time, and a hologram wouldn’t cut it tonight. She wanted to enjoy tonight as Jerrica, wanted to have fun as Jerrica. 

She would think of something, she always did.

“Maybe we will,” she said after a moment. “Maybe we will.”

**Author's Note:**

> So, I hope you like it! I was excited to have something so wide-open to play with. I'm also a huge Jerrica fan, so I had fun focusing on her.
> 
> Tons of references to other episodes in here, including the five-part opening miniseries (in which Jerrica and Eric have their first showdown), especially "Battle of the Bands"; "Out of the Past", which deals with Jacqui Benton, the master tapes, and Emmet Benton's diary and his initial plans for Synergy; "The Stingers Hit Town", which deals with Eric buying out Harvey Gabor and introduces Riot and the Stingers, as well as Riot's demands about signing with Starlight Music; "Broadway Magic" and "Glitter and Gold" are the two biggest "almost-tell moments".
> 
> The title, of course, is a nod to the song "Only the Beginning" from the opener and the first episode, which is titled "The Beginning".


End file.
